The Great Western Pilgrimage - Part Eight

Sunday morning! Up, breakfast, checkout then head North to San Juan Capistrano which is a city, a Mission, and a huge Basilica. We attended morning Mass, took a look around, and met the brother and sister-in-law of dear friends back home. So nice that the Catholic family extends around the globe.

It was interesting to compare the simplicity of the original Missions to the grandeur of this basilica. Makes you wonder if it's all necessary or even reasonable. But then, I've never been a cathedral kind of person. Yes, it's beautiful but God is present, no matter where the Mass takes place.

They had sketches of all the missions along the back walls. That was pretty cool.

People who know people in PA ;0)

Time to step back in history a bit. Mission San Juan Capistrano was the 7th of the 9 original Missions founded by St. Junipero Serra on November 1, 1776. Kind of mind-blowing to me that the East coast was in the midst of the American Revolution and St. Serra, on behalf of Spain, was walking up and down the wilds of California, trying to get a foothold for the Catholic faith.

If you haven't studied the Missions, it's a great read of Catholic and American history. This particular church was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1812 and Spain started forgetting about the Missions about that time. Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 and took over the Missions. America won the Mexican-American war in 1848 and the land was ceded to the US. California is named a state in 1850 and the Catholics want the Missions back so in time, Abraham Lincoln granted their request, turning the control of the Missions back to the Catholic Church. Whew.

At that point, artists and artisans contributed to restoring many of the Missions, at least those that could be refurbished and had the funding. San Juan Capistrano has a beautiful Serra Chapel and St. Peregrine Chapel on the original site.

fruit trees as shrubbery...brilliant

the bells among the ruins

ruins

Not entirely dissimilar to the one in the basilica ;0)

The rest of the day was supposed to be touring Los Angeles since it was the only time we would be in the area. We got a call prior to leaving the basilica that, indeed, the good Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles would be around and able to meet with us.

These beautiful Sisters were an amazing blessing. To see their life, hear about their charism, meet many of the Sisters, old and young was a treasure. Our guide, Sister Mary Joanne, gave such a testament to faith when she told the story of changing orders because her previous order had dropped the practice of wearing the habit and she saw that as such a fundamental part of her vocation - a visible witness of sacrifice for Christ. She and I had a wonderful discussion about being "out there" in your vocation - be it in a habit or tooling around with five (or many more) kids in tow. God can even find solidarity between a mother and a professed Sister.

Venerable Mother Luisita, founder. Pretty amazing story, read it HERE

Sister took us to see the Rosary walk...I want one!

Rarely seen statue of St. Raphael in the chapel :0)

Sister was so kind to take time to answer all of our questions.

Well, if you look at my photo folder that says "Los Angeles" you've seen all six! We had planned to go into the city proper but time with the nuns passed quickly and we stayed much longer than we had intended. I'm not sure anyone was unhappy with that choice.  Time with God and His servants on Earth is always well-spent.

On our way back to the hotel, we imagined pulling up to the pier in Santa Monica, strolling out, and having dinner somewhere. Turns out Sunday night in Southern California is extremely busy! After waiting in line for almost an hour to travel two blocks, dh was kind enough to snatch a photo of the dear Saint, one to whom I spend a great deal of time praying for strength and perseverence, and we headed back to the hotel. A good plan since we found a sweet Irish pub a few blocks away to sit, relax, and catch up on the Olympics.

If you look in the middle, left third of the photo, you can see the Hollywood sign. That's a close as we got!

Sing along with me...although the sun was going down, not coming up.

Beautiful day, Amazing Saint. May she touch the hearts of some of those that pass by her humming Sheryl Crow and intercede for the grace they need to face their trials.

 

So ends another day in California. We were beginning to see why people are drawn...the sun and the beautiful surrounds...and we were being drawn as well - to walk further along the path with Saint Serra.
We are blessed.

And..we're back

I'm going to attempt to rejoin our Fall trip in progress. If you lost track, you can go here for the last post. We left off driving through Southwest Missouri to arrive in Fayetteville, AR for the night.

I would love to tell you there is a lot to see in Fayetteville but not on our radar (A kind way of saying we weren't too interested in the house where Bill married Hill and lacked the time to properly learn how to call a razorback). So, after breakfast, we headed due West to Oklahoma City. The plan was to make it to St. Joseph Old Cathedral in time for Confession and Mass but on our trips "plan" actually translates to "suggestion". Sometimes you need to sleep in and with a sick 4-year-old, that's what we did.

We arrived as the incense was dispersing and got to look around the beautiful old church. 

simple, beautiful

Yes, it was still the Extra Ordinary Jubilee of Mercy!

added bonus ;0)

 I chose this church for the Holy Door and because it is the oldest parish in Oklahoma City, but also for what is across the street. This Cathedral sustained some heavy damage on April 19, 1995, as a result of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. 

It was a blessing to be inside the church before we headed to the blast site. I think it helped to have God central in our mind before journeyed to the place where hate and anger claimed 168 lives.

A plaque on the former playground spot

9:01 on one side, 9:03 on the other...in two minutes, everything changed.

The pool covers the ground where the building used to stand

One chair for each soul lost (smaller chairs for the little people) with St. Joseph's in the background

It was a difficult place to be. It was a good discussion about anger overtaking your life and causing destruction for yourself and those around you. It is a hard thing for little people to understand. I was so grateful when we crossed the street to return to the car and saw, on the ground where the parish house stood prior to the blast...

What we couldn't explain in so many words, this made clear. Jesus wept that day, and every day when innocent life is taken. God certainly doesn't will tragic things to happen and when it does, He grieves as we do. He stands with us, in good times and tragedy. He is never far away.

On to Dallas and the deeeeeep South. Stay tuned, y'all.

We are blessed.

Day 2, Part 2...It's not all religion ;0)

After our lovely Cathedral Mass, we headed across the street to Jason's Deli to pickup some to-go sandwiches (which wasn't the easiest thing since, silly me, I hadn't realized that Vanderbilt Law School had graduated about 10 minutes prior. Oops). Trials, people...they happen ;0)

We jumped in the car and headed to (cue trumpets), one of the Seven Wonders of the World! Truth-be-told, they call it the Parthenon and I suppose it also looks like that but, seriously, I think it could also pass for the Temple of Artemis, don't you agree? Regardless, it was pretty cool and even though we didn't go inside (it's an art museum that would have cost $32 and, well, we're not that into art). Besides, it was a gorgeous day...perfect to sit outside and lunch then take a walk allll around the park.

Similar, non?

As if Greece/Turkey weren't enough history/geography to chew on, we then headed to the Tennessee State Museum. This was strictly for #3 who is a Civil War aficionado but #1 also showed some good interest. The little ones and #2? Well, they can't all be a success. Besides, it was free to get in and parking was not $32 so, score.

my mom made each of the girls a "sunbonnet sue" quilt so it was cool to see another!

The day was getting late, we had a 30 minute drive to the hotel (which turned into 90 because of an accident ahead of us) but we arrived, had dinner, and headed to bed. What a fun, full day in Tennessee. There happened to be a convention of 4-6 year-old cheerleaders in the hotel with us but, gratefully, the desk person put us "above the fray" and we enjoyed our 9th floor quiet view. It was especially beautiful when the sun came up (I forgot to change my clock to central time...oops) on a Saturday that would be, for our family, one of the most memorable in a long time.

Even in a reasonably warm (the ac was not exactly working) hotel room, we are abundantly blessed.